Mbale Municipal Council wants Minister Werikhe Prosecuted for Land Grabbing

The Mbale Municipal Council met in an emergency session yesterday (Tuesday) and resolved to prosecute the State Minister for Lands Michael Werikhe for land grabbing.
The session was called in response to action by an unknown group of people who on Christmas Eve invaded and illegally graded the Mbale Independence Square. Mbale Independence Square is listed as a public space and is regularly used for parades to mark national holidays.
During yesterday's meeting, council members repeated an accusation made earlier last month that Minister Werikhe had a role in the illegal sale of plots in Mbale Independence Square. Councilors claimed that the minister used the Uganda Land Commission to effect the fraud.
Councilor Rogers Kimaswa moved the motion for the prosecution of all those involved in the illegal land allocation. He claimed that he personally saw Werikhe and his aides inspecting the Christmas Eve ground leveling.
Yasin Magombe, the local council official in whose jurisdiction the Independence Square is located, said the bulldozers used belong to Khabusi Construction Company. He said the bulldozers were taken there by two people identified as Muzamir Nangalama and George Koloto.
The Mbale Municipal Council appointed a team of six, led by Henry Nalyanya the Mbale Deputy Resident District Commissioner, to travel to Kampala and to follow up the matter with President Yoweri Museveni and Werikhe's boss, the Minister of Lands Omara Atubo.
Michael Werikhe could not be reached for a comment. Recently he told a meeting of local leaders he was not guilty of any wrongdoing in the Independence Square land grabbing scam.